HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Board 03-21-17 Minutes
City Planning Board
Tuesday, March 21, 2017 7:00 PM
City Commission Chamber – 121 N. Rouse Avenue
A. 07:01:32 PM (00:00:19) Call meeting to order (Neubauer)
Present Were:
Brianne Dugan
Lauren Waterton
Jordan Zignego
George Thompson
Chair Paul Neubauer
Commissioner Chris Mehl
Henry Happel
Paul Spitler
B. Changes to the Agenda
C. Minutes (None)
D. Public Comment – Please state your name and address in an audible tone of voice for the record. This
is the time for individuals to comment on matters falling within the purview of the Committee. There will also
be an opportunity in conjunction with each action item for comments pertaining to that item. Please limit your
comments to three minutes.
E. Action Items
1. 07:02:15 PM (00:01:02) Election of Officers (Board)
MOTION to elect Paul Neubauer as Chair of Planning Board: Chris Mehl
MOTION SECONDED: Jordan Zignego
All in Favor: Motion Passes
MOTION to elect George Thompson as Vice President of Planning Board: Brianne Dugan
MOTION SECONDED: Commissioner Chris Mehl
All in Favor: Motion Passes
2. 07:04:24 PM (00:03:11) Continued discussion of the update to the growth policy and
Board suggestions (Saunders)
07:05:11 PM (00:03:58) Brianne Dugan asked Chris Saunders why we’re revising the growth policy and how
it can be revised in a way that is helpful to the community.
07:05:39 PM (00:04:26) Chris Saunders explained who utilizes the Growth Policy document and summarizes
some of the purposes for which it is used.
07:09:10 PM (00:07:57) Brianne Dugan continued by asking Saunders where he’s seen the Growth Policy
work well and where he has seen it fail. Saunders explained that it helps to have a broader document that
can be applied by each commission as they change.
07:12:59 PM (00:11:46) Brianne Dugan asked if preparing the Unified Development Code (UDC) prior to
updating the Growth Policy makes sense if the UDC prompts changes that may affect the Growth Policy.
Saunders replied that it will not have a negative impact because: 1) The UDC is an implementation of the
Growth Policy, so the timing is appropriate; 2) By the time the UDC rewrite is complete, we will find that 85-
90% of the document has the same content, just rearranged.
07:15:00 PM (00:13:47) Commissioner Mehl discussed the three documents that are currently being
updated, including the UDC, Growth Policy and The Community Strategic Plan. The Commission made it a
priority to finish updating these documents last February.
07:18:55 PM (00:17:42) Henry Happel asked Chris Saunders about the 2009 Community Plan and asked what
he felt worked well and doesn’t work well. Saunders replied that the Community Plan has been a good
integration between land use, utilities and transportation planning. He noted that some improvements
could include pulling a tighter tie between the future land use map and capital improvements planning.
He continued to explain that the City’s Public Works department has been evolving with the city’s approach
over the last few years and is changing from reactive to a more public driven, proactive stance.
07:23:19 PM (00:22:06) Chris Saunders discussed where the city wants growth to occur, referring to the
future land use map. He stated that the city has been fairly reactive when it comes to the annexation
process – that the city will not force itself on private owners – so there is an opportunity to take a more
proactive stance in the city’s growth.
07:25:43 PM (00:24:30) Chris Saunders explained how Missoula and Billings have approached annexation.
07:29:36 PM (00:28:23) Chair Neubauer asked if the large brown area on the east side of the Future Land
Use Map is due to topography/geography. Saunders confirmed this. The group continued to discuss
annexation and what that means in relation to city utilities.
07:33:13 PM (00:32:00) Henry Happel asked what Saunders thought the appropriate planning horizon
should be for a new growth policy. Saunders responded that ten years is an absolute minimum, but that for
a land use plan, 10-20 years is reasonable.
07:38:37 PM (00:37:24) George Thompson speaks to an email regarding Gallatin County residents within the
City of Bozeman and the benefits received through city services while paying lower taxes. The group
discussed how this ties into annexation and if other procedures should be considered.
07:47:18 PM (00:46:05) Chair Neubauer stated that he would like to see more commercial nodes
incorporated into the growth plan near future arterial streets such as Gooch Hill and Baxter.
07:48:18 PM (00:47:05) Chris Saunders stated that they will be tasking the Growth Policy consultant with
giving the City a sense of what our needs will be, given a certain population base to support it.
07:53:04 PM (00:51:51) Henry Happel asked about the data that goes into creating a growth policy, noting
that there was a significant amount in the 2009 Growth Policy Update. He asked what the new Growth
Policy data needs will be. Saunders responded that there will be a need for quite a bit more, but stated that
it could be packaged differently. They continued to discuss the role the Growth Policy consultants will play
and what information they’re hoping to gain.
07:58:22 PM (00:57:09) George Thompson stressed the importance of nodes in our community and to plan
for the long run, leaving zoning options and land use patterns that can adapt for future use.
08:00:55 PM (00:59:42) Henry Happel asked Chris Saunders what other cities may be role models for
Bozeman going forward. Saunders used Bend, OR and Fort Collins, CO as common comparisons.
08:02:33 PM (01:01:20) Chair Neubauer and the board discussed future Growth Policy meetings and
recommended determining some specific discussion items to create structure going forward.
08:05:43 PM (01:04:30) Chris Saunders discussed the process for creating the 2009 Growth Policy to help
determine next steps for the current update. The group continued to discuss next steps for the current
Growth Policy update.
08:21:11 PM (01:19:58) The board members discussed the different materials that will be helpful in
researching for Growth Policy and ways to streamline that material for easy access and digestion.
08:24:54 PM (01:23:41) Commissioner Mehl recommended choosing three items that are missing from the
current plan and three items that should be priority for the Community Plan.
F. FYI/Discussion
G. 08:28:24 PM (01:27:11) Adjournment (Neubauer)
For more information please contact Tom Rogers at TRogers@bozeman.net
This board generally meets the first and third Tuesday of the month at 7:00pm
Committee meetings are open to all members of the public. If you have a disability and require assistance,
please contact our ADA coordinator, Mike Gray at 582-3232 (TDD 582-2301).